Info: $2.3 million available for $3.6-$5.1-million project; board to discuss how big they want to go and funding options in coming weeks.

You have a total of $2.3 million to cover all the civic projects you think the people need in the budget year of 2013. But you don't have Monopoly money rolling off Boardwalk — or Riverwalk, in our case. Do you pass or pass go? Going to jail is not an option. What do you do?

The Estes Park Town Board trustees met in a work session Tuesday, focusing on the building of a multipurpose events center (MPEC)at the Fairgrounds at Stanley Park. They seem to want to pass go and know they have a small window of opportunity (and an equally small budget) for building of the MPEC. They see this as an opportunity to make money, yet they have to spend a lot of money to make it, when money is tight. Most want to review more solid facts before they act. They also want to have at least another work session with Johnson Consulting, who performed the economic and feasibility study in a Pro Forma on the MPEC, and perhaps with consultants from The Ranch, who gave them advice on establishing an events center, before the trustees come to any decision.

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There is an urgency to move ahead, though, before the March bid deadline window closes. They don't want to exceed that timeframe, for fear of having to begin the bidding process anew and perhaps for more money.

As town administrator Frank Lancaster explained, the town's available, unencumbered funds, including a 25-percent reserve, total $2.3 million, and the MPEC bid estimates, although excellent, start at $3.6 million. So the trustees need to decide how much of a project they want (new stall barns with public restrooms, versus an events center) and how they can pay for it. They asked Lancaster and town finance officer Steve McFarland to bring them back funding options and answers to their questions at their next meeting.

Zurn said officials were estimating the bids for the MPEC to come in at the $4-million range, so to have one at $3.6-million was "extraordinary," at under $100 per square foot. However, he cautioned that "very competitive bid may not stay that way."

It could turn into a situation requiring a redesign fee of $75,000-$100,000-plus (per a 2009 code requirement)and add three more months to the schedule. Additionally, the town could get stuck in a different bidding cycle and environment, and the construction costs could become higher for a second go-around.

Zurn said if the board decides to build now, the MPEC project should require 10 to 12 months, sliding us into 2014, while the stall barn would be a 9-month construction project.

Trustee Eric Blackhurst urged the board to consider the very favorable bidding situation and construction schedule and look at how they can make it work, using the potential increased ability of Stanley Park with an MPEC to generate money. It's not an unusual model, he said; the same one was used for the conference center, and it has become very successful.

Lancaster said they had the same discussions about The Ranch needing to be subsidized for the first years of operation. Then, it, too, became very successful.

There is "no doubt the overall tide rose in that area," because of the installation of The Ranch, Lancaster said. In fact, The Ranch was hit so hard by the High Park fire, they had to cancel events there and began conversations with our special events group ablout possibilities of hosting events here. The trustees seemed interested in a potential collaboration with The Ranch. Pinkham said that when the trustees toured The Ranch, they noticed a synergy in terms of their size and use of shows and that it costs The Ranch more to serve a small event than it would us. The mayor said conversations will be ongoing, and that The Ranch would be more willing to refer business here, than to a facility outside of the county, for tax dollars.

Trustee Ron Norris said that most of the projects he's seen fail have been because the markets for the projects "didn't materialize," and we need to be confident of what this project will do for us. He said it's also necessary to reconcile community support. In the 2011 citizens' survey, only 20 percent of the residents supported the need for the facility, he said. There was a higher level of community support for the stall barns, he added. It's necessary to see a strategic marketing plan and operating plan for the MPEC,he said, before he can be sure it is a good economic plan.

Blackhurst disagreed. The professionals say we can make this MPEC work, ht said, so let's get the information out to the community and get moving.

Trustee John Ericson said we should get moving — but with the stall barn. Lancaster countered with the idea that it's important to have a multiuse facility. We could lose a lot of money, if we design it for one specific use. Every day the building "is dark," he said, we lose money.

However, trustee Mark Elrod said the planners trustees spoke to when they toured The Ranch advised them not to mix uses when dealing with horses, because of concerns on sloping and finishes of floors, and dust and the ventilation system. Norris agreed the two uses — equine and other events — are not "compatible." Rough covered floors are needed for horses, along with sloping drain and wash areas; whereas, slick floors are needed in the events center.

Special events manager Bo Winslow said rubber mats could solve the problem, and nobody will house a horse on a floor that is just concrete.

Trustee Wendy Koenig said she is confident in moving ahead with the MPEC and the mixed use desgin for equines.

"I don't want to lose the opportunity," she said.

Trustees learned there are about 80 days to take advantage of the current bid numbers.

Town public information officer Kate Rusch said the board needs to further consider all the information provided at Tuesday night's session, including the MPEC pro forma and funding options, so that it can decide the scope of the project(s) and funding it will pursue. It's still to be determined when that meeting will take place, but the board would like to have that discussion soon and during a public meeting with public input. The discussion would include Johnson Consulting and representatives from The Ranch in relation to the MPEC pro forma. Steve McFarland will provide more details on financing options.

"We'll get that meeting information out as soon as possible," she said.

Has there been any talk of using the MPEC for what the EPIC people want, a theatre venue?

"To my knowledge, it hasn't been discussed to co-locate the theater and a possible MPEC. I do know that EPIC made the decision to pursue the downtown location, instead of the fairgrounds location that was set aside by the town for the possible theater, stating they feel a downtown location is a better fit for the venue," Rusch said.

Lancaster began the meeting with a numbers summary. saying that the money available is all the board has to work with, for all the projects out there. He expressed concern that the town may spend more than it takes in, but said that the budget is balanced, using savings, and we are not in a deficit spending situation.

Ericson said the town administrator has the focus exactly right, and that the town may be able to redirect funding from one project to another, or postpone some projects. There is some flexibility, he said.

"This is the best picture we have right now," Lancaster told the trustees.

How to divvy up the pie they are presented will be the question. While the pie stays the same size, individual pieces may vary.

While it looks great and smells good, how likely are we to get a bigger pie, Norris asked. McFarland said he is encouraged by the pro forma. Blackhurst said there is money there to do this, we just need to figure out how to go about it wisely. That is what trustees will be considering at the next meeting.

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